03.02.2017

Change of owner at Time

Vehicle mounted aerial lift manufacturer Time Versalift has been acquired by Texas based private equity firm The Sterling Group, from long time owners O’Flaherty Holdings.

O’Flaherty has been looking to sell its Time business since the death of chairman Nigel O’Flaherty in July. The company, which made its fortune in the car import and dealership business, acquired Time, which included the Condor and Versalift brands, around 40 years ago and while every year would see numerous approaches to acquire the access business, he would never even consider them.

Current discussions have been ongoing for several months, with two candidates rumoured to have been in the final running, a competitive manufacturer and the Sterling Group possibly supporting a Management Buy Out.

Few details have been released at this time, but we believe that the deal is supported by the management team on both sides of the Atlantic with the potential for the team to buy in.

Time is based in Waco, Texas with major operations in Denmark – Time International - the UK, where Versalift UK is the market leader and its new operation Versalift France. The company is the clear European market leader for Van mounted lifts and has a strong position in the pick-up truck mounted/4x4 market.
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Time chief executive Charles Wiley said: “Sterling is the right partner for Time as we continue to pursue the significant growth opportunities that exist for the company today. The Time team is excited to partner with Sterling, and together we expect continued success in this next phase of our company’s history.”

Sterling Group partner Kent Wallace added: “The team at Time has built the company into an industry leader that provides outstanding products and services to its customers, and we look forward to further supporting their future growth. Sterling has a long history of partnering with management teams of family- and entrepreneur-owned businesses in the industrial sector.
Sterling currently has over $2.2 billion of assets under management.